[MD] I'm The Second Greatest!

[Ant McWatt]

Ant McWatt asked May 12th:


Hello Everyone,
 
Most of us at this Discussion group would agree that, on the whole, Pirsig is the best contemporary Western philosopher.
 
One of my "second favourites" is Alan Gewirth.  His "Principle of Generic Consistency" is a beautiful piece of logic. 
But who would be your second best?  And, more importantly, what, if anything, do they add to the MOQ?


Craig Erb asked May 12th:

>
> CORRECTED SUBJECT LINE:
> ["Alan Gewirth", Wikipedia]
> > [Gewirth's] student Roger Pilon has developed a libertarian version of Gewirth's theory.
>
> Ant,
> Are you familiar with Pilon's work or can you recommend it?
> Craig

Ant McWatt comments:

No sorry Craig I'm not though, judging from a brief Google search, Pilon looks like a useful reference.
Gewirth was someone I looked at before my PhD studies and, it's only now that I'm getting 
round to re-visit this particular avenue of thought. 


Mark Smit stated May 12th:

Hi Ant,
That is a tough one, I would have to think of the hierarchy.  I tend
to go from one writer to another.  Perhaps I have not found my second
favorite yet.  The more I learn, the more meaning everybody has for
me.  To bad that Karl Popper is dead, or I might choose him.


Ant McWatt comments:

Interesting choice, Mark.  Popper strikes me as a (relatively) original thinker and, of course 
(as referenced in that PhD of mine),his ideas concerning propensities aren't too 
far away from Pirsig's ideas about values.  


Andre Broersen stated May 13th:

Hi Anthony, as you know I am a fan of Pirsig and the MOQ. I find this so very advanced from what I have been exposed to and conditioned into for at least 57 years (SOM) that I found that I needed some 'intermediary' steps to learn to comprehend what Pirsig is on about.
 
I have found this in Ken Wilber... yes, prolific writer, but he is somehow a good stepping stone into the MOQ and into oneself (if I may be so bold as to suggest a difference). Wilber is on a very similar path to Pirsig. Of course using different terms and understandings but when I read Wilber I always keep the MOQ in the background and this has lead me to getting these little flashes of insight into Pirsig (whilst reading Wilber).


Ant McWatt comments:

Yes, it this "prolific" production of Wilber's that has always put me off from reading him.  Possibly, this suspicion that if 
a philosophy writer is too prolific then they are not examining their ideas in sufficient depth is unfounded.  As such, which text would you recommend of Wilber's to start with?



Michael Brown suggested May 13th:

Ken Wilber is fun - sort of a philosophical entertainer a la Alan Watts, and 
also (like Watts) creator of a pretty substantial commercial apparatus. 
After all, one must live!


Ant McWatt comments:

That might just explain Wilber's prolific production! 


 Michael Brown continued May 13th:

[Wilber's] original insight about the Spectrum of Consciousness is awesome and his 
best thing. 


Ant McWatt comments:

OK, thanks for the pointer there Michael.  That could be the answer to my question for Andre above (as I notice 
"Spectrum of Consciousness" is the title of Wilber's first book - published 1973).  

A search for the phrase "Spectrum of Consciousness" led me to a rather interesting article that (though it doesn't mention Wilber)
references Julian Jaynes (writer of 'The origin of consciousness in the breakdown of the bicameral mind'),
Jared Diamond and Terence McKenna:

http://www.indigogroup.co.uk/edge/Spectrum.htm


Marsha V stated May 15th:

Greetings, 
 
I like the little I've read of Alfred North Whitehead and his process philosophy, and hope to learn more; 


Ant McWatt comments:

Marsha, don't forget there's a whole MA thesis available at: robertpirsig.org/SneddonThesis.htm which relates Whitehead's "Metaphysics of Process" with the MOQ.  

Part 2 of Dr Sneddon's thesis (at http://robertpirsig.org/SneddonPartTwo.htm) tries to synthesise the two philosophies. 


Marsha V continued May 15th:

...but at the moment my second favorite philosopher is a woman who speaks with a _woman's voice_, and that would be Elizabeth Bishop.  She graduated from Vassar and was considered an intellectual, was concerned with maps and patterns("constant readjustment" as a kind of poetics), and wrote of and from experience.  To consider Bishop's contibution is to consider what the 'code of art' adds to the MoQ.  

I would like to present the reading of Elizabeth Bishop's poem 'The 
Riverman' as a tribute to Mr. Pirsig and his journey down the Hudson 
River.

This is a very long YouTube video, so I suggest to get to the specific 
poem, you fast-forward to position 01:11:58 to hear this wonderful 
reading, of this wonderful poem.  You will not be disappointed.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv0FE7YwTQg 


Ant McWatt comments:

Sorry Marsha, you know that you can't have poets in the Academy so I can't accept Elizabeth Bishop as a second favourite philosopher.  Code of Art or no Code of Art!  Seriously, those poems of Bishop's on that YouTube tribute film (in addition to "The Riverman" that you referenced) all make for good background listening (especially on a sunny afternoon with a light breeze).   They have the same power as the longer descriptive passages (especially of the Mid-West scenery) found in ZMM.

Thanks to all for the suggestions,

Anthony



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